Comparing the 2010 euro to 1998 rouble is “surreal” – blogger

As euro zone countries struggle to keep their currency stable, some recall a similar turmoil that gripped Russia in the 1990s. Blogger Mark Adomanis says the euro could benefit from the lessons of Russia's past.

“The Russians actually listened to the advice they got last time around from IMF. They seem to have taken the medicine and I think they learned,” he said. “You do not want to be in a position of owing the IMF a lot of money, you don’t want to be in a position of having a lot of sovereign debt and I think it is a pretty clear role reversal. [Russia has] one of the lowest sovereign debts in the entire world.”

“I think that Russians themselves are probably pretty surprised that it has been this stark, but it really is kind of surreal to read articles in the New York Times comparing the euro of 2010 to the 1998 rouble. If that is not making everyone in Brussels terrified, I don’t know what would!”

Following the breakdown of the USSR, the country was on the verge of collapse and sought financial help from abroad, a decision Moscow would later regret.